The world spun, and heaven and earth turned upside down.
The weightlessness of plummeting straight from the Thirty-Third Heaven into the mortal world made the Golden-Robed Youth's soul feel as though it had been thrown into a meat grinder. After the tearing agony came a thick, heavy darkness.
He had no idea how much time passed before the wind howling in his ears finally died away.
The Golden-Robed Youth struggled to lift his eyelids. His vision was blurry, as though he were looking through frosted glass.
He tried to raise a hand to rub his throbbing temple, but instead of the familiar cool touch of fingertips, he felt something strangely furry and soft.
A strong earthy smell mingled with the musky scent peculiar to wild beasts filled his nostrils.
Alarm gripped the Golden-Robed Youth. Fighting his dizziness, he struggled to focus his eyes.
In the dim light, the first thing he saw was a wall.
No, it was not a wall.
It was white fur, rising and falling, radiating warmth.
Following that expanse of fur upward, the Golden-Robed Youth sharply sucked in a breath-
It was an enormous fox.
Her massive body filled almost half the cave, and nine enormous tails fanned out behind her like a folding screen, giving off an eerie demonic aura in the gloom.
At that moment, the giant fox was lying on her side, her eyes half closed, seemingly exhausted.
"A demon?!"
The Golden-Robed Youth instinctively tried to form a spell seal.
But his dantian was utterly empty. He could not summon even a trace of magical power, and even his limbs refused to obey him.
While he was still reeling in terror, something suddenly shifted beneath the giant fox's tail.
There was a wet squelch.
A small, soaking-wet creature slid out and rolled to